Summer Safety for your Preschooler

"Safety First" is a key slogan encouraging the health and wellness of our most precious gifts-our children. Here are some tips for a safe summer with your preschool child:

Car Seat Safety-
These are the guidelines and recommended by the American Pediatric Association.

Preschool Children or Older Toddlers:

All children ages 2 years or older, or those younger than 2 years who have outgrown the rear-facing weight or height limit for their car safety seat, should use a forward-facing car safety seat with a harness for as long as possible, up to the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seatís manufacturer.

School-Aged Children:

All children whose weight or height is above the forward-facing limit for their car safety seat should use a belt-positioning booster seat until the vehicle seat belt fits properly, typically when they have reached 4 feet, 9 inches in height and are between 8 and 12 years of age.

With water activities on the docket for the summer season ahead water safety is an extremely important topic to address with your preschooler. Here are several tips for creating a safe environment around a pool or water based activity with your child:

1. Always have adult supervision present when a children are swimming or around pools, lakes, rivers, oceans, etc. There are no exceptions to this rule!

2. If you have a pool a fence with a locking gate should surround the pool. Be sure to have alarms to alert adults when a child is enters the pool area. Again, supervision is the best way to prevent drownings.

3. Require life jacket use for non-swimmers, or even weak swimmers. Children learning to swim should have life jackets. There are many cute and comfortable swimsuits with floaties/life vests as part of them. Amazon.com Widgets

4. Enroll children in swimming lessons. Continue with the training, even when your child seems proficient. Have reminder lessons before each swim season begins again.

5. Parents, family members and caregivers should receive CPR training, and be ready to attend to all children in the water.

Lastly, summer fun brings about extra playtime, and more activities with both indoor and outdoor toys. Keep abreast of the latest toy recalls by signing up for updates at the site below:
www.saferproducts.gov/Search/default.aspx